USA: Two bills introduced in Congress to enforce labour standards in trade program targeted at developing countries
"ICAR and AFL-CIO applaud Sen. Menendez's leadership in promoting labor rights via trade", 19 Jan 2017
... Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced the Labor Rights for Development Act, co-sponsored by Senator Brown (D-Ohio), and the Anti-Trafficking Trade Act, co-sponsored by Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), to promote labor rights and human rights in developing countries that trade with the United States...
...The two bills reform the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a trade program that conditionally allows 120 developing countries to import thousands of products to the United States duty free. The GSP, codified under the Trade Act of 1974, was designed to promote economic development in developing countries by allowing duty-free exports to the United States, while raising labor standards through trade. However, enforcement of the GSP qualification criteria has been weak.
These two bills address the compliance gap. The Labor Rights for Development Act would strengthen enforcement and oversight to ensure GSP beneficiary countries meet basic labor standards, including protecting the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, preventing the use of forced and child labor, and providing acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health. The Anti-Trafficking Trade Act would prohibit countries afforded the lowest ranking in the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons report, Tier Three, from receiving duty-free benefits under the GSP...